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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Shopping Report

Tuesday's list has taken a hiatus until there's a topic I feel is worthy. Hopefully next week. Until then, check out my grocery scores from last night!

Matt and I go on a grocery date every other Tuesday night. Yes, we're dorks. It is a fun (and productive) way to hang out though, and we always have a blast. It doesn't hurt that we eat at Chick-Fil-A before the shopping commences. Full tummy=Happy Heather. Plus, Tuesday night is family night, so you get a free kids meal with a meal purchase (and I just eat the kids meal anyway, so yippee!). Now I realize that many of you are completely disinterested in my grocery purchases. Totally fine. However, I saved a lot of money by only putting in a couple hours' work, so if you're looking for some inspiration, here ya go...

First stop: Costco.- I was a little disappointed because this was the first time I haven't had a formula check to use on the Similac. Sad day. It's still significantly cheaper to buy it at Costco (vs. Target, Walmart, etc.) though, so all is not lost.- Also, note the massive amount of ground turkey. I LOVE ground turkey now and substitute it for ground beef in pretty much everything. I'm pretty sure it's healthier (I'm sure my mom and/or Kati will correct me if I'm wrong), but it's also cheaper and lasts us FOREVER. Good bulk purchase.

Total: $51.20 (Note: these bulk purchases last us a really long time, so don't freak out too much at the total)

Second stop: Target.- In the past I've been able to scan as many diaper coupons as I had and they all counted, but apparently I've been outsmarted by a computer (don't you hate it when that happens?). So, the 3 packs of diapers I was going to get for free ended up costing $26 (which is still better than the $37 that they were).- Toothpaste: $0.89- Cereal: 4 boxes for $1.47 each (on sale and with coupons [normally $3.29 each])

- We cheat. We really like having a fire in the fireplace, but we use *gasp* fire logs. I had a sweet $12/2 coupon that I'd been waiting to match up to a sale. Sooo, $20 box on sale for $17, minus $6 coupon = $11 a box!

Total: $62.25 (not too shabby for including 3 packs of diapers and 2 boxes of firelogs)Overall savings at Target: $43.79

Third stop: Kroger.This is where I planned to do the majority of our food shopping since A) they double and triple coupons and B) they were having a serious sale. We got so much that it needed two pictures...

There is way too much food for me to go into a detailed list of savings, so here are some highlights:- Larabars: On sale for $1.25 each, $0.40 coupon that double to $0.80, so $0.45 each. These things are totally natural (made from dates, Kati! I ate them!), and SO yummy.- Rotel: Free (with sale and doubled coupons)- Coffeemate creamer: $0.75 each with coupons- Turkey lunchmeat: 3 tubs for $2.50 total (manager's special + coupons)

I can't remember the rest of the pairings, but our coupon savings alone were $23.85, bonus coupons (doubled/tripled) were $7.18, and sale stuff worth $30.75 for a total savings at Kroger of $61.78.Total: $91.87

If you looked at the previous pictures, you would notice there was a serious absence of produce. That's because we got it all at Sprouts. I.LOVE.THAT.STORE.

Third stop: Sprouts.It's a lot of produce. It GOOD produce, and I can't wait to eat it. I've already had one of the apples and ohmygoodness it is so much better than what is typically at Target and HEB (and I used to love HEB's produce).

Total: $16.89 (except I did have to explain to the cashier that yes, I gave him $27 in cash on purpose because I didn't want ones back. Sigh.)

GRAND GROCERY TOTAL: $138.58TOTAL GROCERY SAVINGS: $69.07

I know that there are people who save twice that much in a given trip, but I'm giving myself a pat on the back for saving almost $70 without spending hours over the Sunday paper with scissors or shelling out money for a company to do the hard work for me. I figure it took a maximum of 3 hours (over the course of about a week whenever I had a few minutes here and there) , which is equivalent to making $23/hr.

Brooke, you should go with me sometime! It's not as complicated as it seems! (Matt said I should switch my shopping night to Mondays and you could go with me and he and Dave could watch football, lol)

Kati, check out coupons.com. They always have larabars coupons, and I think you can print out 2-3 at a setting and reset it every few weeks or so. That site is pretty much awesome though. (It's not all junk food coupons!)